Increasing volumes of data traffic are being transported from one place to another using optical media, such as optical fibers. One of the many advantages of an optical media is that it may transport a greater volume of data traffic in a given period of time than may be transported electrically over coaxial or other wire-oriented cables. However, this greater volume of data traffic presents problems in the portions of telecommunication networks that process or otherwise manipulate data traffic rather than simply transport it.
A telecommunication switch processes telecommunication data traffic by connecting data received at any one of many input ports to any one of many output ports. Many different architectures and techniques for building telecommunication switches are known to those skilled in the art. However, conventional switches utilize electrical components, such as memory devices, in performing the switching. Although the bandwidth of such electrical components roughly accommodates the data traffic volumes achievable with electrical media, such conventional switches are not easily adapted to process the data traffic volumes supported by optical media. If conventional switching networks were adapted to process the volume of data traffic provided by fiber optical data links, such resulting networks would be extremely large and expensive. In addition, the extremely large size suggests that poor reliability would result.
Consequently, a need exists for a telecommunication switch which reliably and inexpensively switches such large data traffic volumes. However, conventional telecommunications switches which employ fiber optic components do not meet these needs. Such switches require many critical, switchable, fiber optic terminations and junctions. The current state of fiber optic technology cannot reliably and inexpensively produce such items.